Lonely Games
by InLoveWithLaughing
Summary: Ron and Luna are captured by death eaters. Fluffiness, romance and stories ensue. COMPLETED.


Description: Ron and Luna are captured by death eaters. Fluffiness, romance and stories ensue.

Rating- K

_Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns all recognisable characters, Dr Seuss owns all recognisable quotes/stories._

Every nerve felt like it was on fire. Ron was vaguely aware of his head slamming into concrete and a deranged cackling in his ears. After two weeks of on and off torture, Ron thought he should be used to _Crucio_. He wasn't. He was sure this time was going to be the time his flesh would melt of his face and his bones would disintegrate. He was almost glad, if he died now at least he wouldn't have to feel the pain anymore. But he would never be that lucky.

When Bellatrix finally tired of his screams and left, he was still intact. He ran his hands over his skin, expecting to feel at least a burn mark. Nothing. Just the constant ache in his bones and throbbing cut in his head. He was probably bleeding again.

Water, he decided would be the best move. His throat was dry from screaming. He crawled left until he felt the metal rim of his water bowl, then drank greedily. There wasn't much water left and he wouldn't get any more until tomorrow, but his throat was so painful he couldn't make himself save it. Once the water was gone he had nothing to do except curse his own stupidity whilst waiting for another death eater to get bored and come down here for some 'fun'.

It was his own fault, he knew. Moody had told him not to go meet Goyle on his own, but Harry's leg was still acting up from the last battle and Hermione didn't trust Goyle enough to meet him. The rest of the Order were busy on various missions, the only person free to go was Ron. It shouldn't have been a big deal, Goyle had been informing the Order of death eater activities for almost a year and Draco insisted he was trustworthy, but still nobody was supposed to meet him alone… but what Goyle needed to tell them could be important.

With this in mind, Ron had gone to the agreed alleyway and waited for him. Five minutes after he arrived, somebody hit him with a stunner from behind and he woke up in a large but uncomfortable cell. Since then Ron hadn't heard anything about Goyle, and he could only assume he was either dead or had decided to betray them. For Goyle's own sake, Ron hoped it was the former, because if it wasn't it would be as soon as the Order found him. If they found him. It wasn't looking so good anymore.

He hated thinking things like this.

He heard foot

The death eaters

He groaned as the echoes of footsteps resounded around the room. Somebody was coming down the stairs.

"So, Snottington, how's your day?" He said to his imaginary ogre friend.

Talking to his "friends" had had started off as a way to combat the loneliness that he felt, but it had soon become a game. How mad could he make the death eaters think he was? How far could he push his game before he was really driven mad by it?

"Ron?"

His head jerked up and for the first time in days he felt hope blossom in his chest. He'd know that quiet, dreamy voice anywhere. The hope was smashed down by the next words he heard.

"Shut up, Loony." Crabbe. One of his most enthusiastic torturers. God, he hated the fat git. "Now, I hope you two get along well, because you're going to be together for a while." He guffawed loudly, sounding, in Ron's opinion, like a choking bull.

He turned his head to watch as Crabbe and Luna come closer. Apart from looking a little thinner and more tired than normal, Luna looked alright, which was a relief because Ron didn't think he had the energy to worry about her moment.

Crabbe sneered at him, then shoved Luna violently through the force field surrounding the cell. It was one way, and any attempt to get through Ron's way would cause severe head pain. Ron winced at the memory. Crabbe laughed as Luna fell to the floor on her hands and knees. He was still grunt-laughing as he went back up the stairs and shut the heavy door at the top.

"Ron? That is you, isn't it?" Ron sighed and let his eyes slide shut, he must look worse than he thought if Luna couldn't recognise him.

"Yeh, it's me." The words came out raspy and took far too effort to say. Ron heard the scuff of Luna's feet, and then felt her hot breath on his face.

"What have they done to you?"

Ron decided it was rhetorical question and didn't answer, instead he gently laid his head on his knees. Exhaustion was replacing the pain now, and Ron slowly started to drift into dreamland.

"Don't go to sleep!" Luna's cry was so urgent that it startled Ron awake.

"Why not? 'm sleepy…" His head lolled forward again, but Luna woke him again with a hard pinch. "Ow!"

"Sorry, but Hermione told me you're not supposed to sleep when you have a head wound. Just put your head forward and I'll see how bad it is."

Ron obeyed and felt her small hands running over the tender skin on his head. He hissed as she brushed her fingers over the wound. "There's a lot of blood. Do you know how to stop it?"

"Mmm…" Ron tried to concentrate through the fog settling over him. It was the same after every cruciatus. It made his bones and his brain tired. "I think you're supposed to put pressure on it, or something… That's what Draco did to Harry's leg…"

"Alright, just relax then. I'm going to use my jumper."

"I wouldn't." Ron said. "It gets pretty cold here at night, and my heads been like this for ages, it's not a big deal-" Ron groaned as cotton was pressed hard to his head and pain shot through him.

"Sorry." Luna murmured, but she didn't ease up the pressure. Slowly but surely the pain dimmed to a faint throb and Ron was able to think clearly again.

"How did they catch you? Is the Order coming?" Ron asked.

"I got caught because I was being stupid. The Order doesn't know where we are, I don't even know where we are." Luna said.

"Me neither." Ron said. "I was hit with a stunner in London, then I woke up here."

"Did Goyle betray us?"

"Don't know. Don't know anything. Nobody talks to me unless they're taunting me."

"Do we get food? Water?" Ron could hear the fear in Luna's voice, despite how she tried to hide it.

"Yeh. Food and water are put in the bowls in the corner in the morning. Don't expect much though." Ron warned her. "We get bread and tap water, sometimes I get a bit of cold soup."

"So they don't want us to die."

"Can't do. Would have just _Avada Kedavra-_d my arse if they did." 

"What do they want with us then?"

"Dunno. Spell practice?" They sat in silence for a couple of minutes before Luna spoke again.

"Where do we go to the loo?" She asked.

Ron gestured towards a thin screen at the end of the room. It separated a small sink and toilet from view, but no shower. Ron didn't even want to think about how bad he smelled.

"OK. Just put your head back so the jumper doesn't fall, I'll be back in a minute."

Ron did as she said, trapping the jumper between his head and the wall. Luna was back quickly and sat beside him, the heat from her body warming Ron. It was nice, he thought, to finally have some company that wasn't Death Eaters.

They sat quietly until Ron couldn't stand it anymore.

"Say something, will you!" He said, then immediately regretted his harsh tone. It wasn't Luna's fault he was so on edge.

"Alright." She said before he could apologise, not sounding offended in the least. It occurred to him that she might hate the silence as much as he did. "Back at Grimald Place everyone's really worried. Harry's leg is getting better though, Draco had been making sure he doesn't get out of bed. Harry's determined to get better so he can fight again soon, but I've heard Madame Pomfrey and Molly talking and they don't think he's going to ever be able to fight again. Harry doesn't know, I think Draco's going to tell him soon though. Before there's another fight. There have only been a few since-"

"No, let's not talk about the war." Ron said. "Let's talk about something completely unrelated to war or death or equally depressing topics."

"Okay. Who were you talking to when I came in?"

"It's a game I play, it's silly really," Ron explained the game, and loved when Luna laughed at it.

"That's wonderful!" She said.

Her laughter soon died away though, and the cell fell silent again.

"What shall we talk about now?" Luna said.

Ron hesitated. He felt sick and miserable and his head was starting to hurt again, and all he wanted was for somebody to tell him a story so he could think about that instead of this. When he was younger and was ill his mother would spend hours sitting by his bed telling him stories. Having the full attention of his mother for once, with no brothers to compete with, made being ill almost worth it. It was embarrassing though, which was why he was reluctant. Then again, Luna was never embarrassed, why should he be?

"Can you tell me a story?" Ron asked.

"Sure. My mum used to tell me stories when I was sick." Luna said. "Do you have anything in mind?"

"I don't mind. Something simple, I don't think I'm awake enough to follow a complicated story right now."

"Right. Relax then, I have the perfect story." Ron did as she said, letting his body sag against the wall and closing his eyes as Luna began to speak. "_I am Sam, I am Sam, Sam I am, That Sam-I-am, That Sam-I-Am! I do not like, that Sam-I-am_…" The story continued for a while. It was a nice story about green eggs and ham and it eventually lulled Ron to sleep.

"_Sectumsempra!" _

_With a cry Harry falls to the ground, clutching his leg. Snape turns on the spot, disappearing in a cloud of black robes. Ron fights his way through people, shoving aside Death Eaters and Order members alike. Draco reaches Harry before he does and peels of his robe, pressing it to Harry's leg despite his screams of protest. Ron finally brakes through the last of the people separating them and falls to his knees beside Harry._

"_It'll be alright. You'll be fine. It's just your leg." Ron tries to reassure his friend. "Stupid Snape!" _

"_He had to do it; they'd know he was on our side otherwise." Draco mutters, still concentrating on stopping the heavy flow of blood. "If he wanted to kill Harry he would have aimed at his chest or neck." _

"_He's going to end up dead anyway if we don't get him out of here." Hermione says, appearing out of nowhere. Her face is pale and a streak of dust and blood_ _mars the skin of her cheek. She looks exhausted._

"_We can't move him; we don't know how bad the wound is. He could end up paralysed if we damage his leg even more." Draco says. Harry's eyes, full of pain and fear, flick between them. _

"_Better paralysed and alive, than dead." Hermione says, but she doesn't try and move Harry. _

_The battle rages on around them, but nobody pays them any mind. Then it's over. Bodies litter the ground. Necks turned at unnatural angles. The stench of blood and sweat is sickening. Padma Patil is lying a few feet away in a pool of her sister's blood, dark eyes dead. Pavati is bent over her crying, clutching her bleeding arm to her chest. What used to be Dean Thomas' leg is digging into Hannah Abbotts back. Her blonde hair and yellow robes are the only things Ron can use to recognise her. Her face had been shredded by Greyback. _

_Ron is no longer at the scene of the battle. He isn't anywhere. All he can see are the faces. The faces of people who have been dead for days, weeks, months. Cho Chang. Seamus Finnegan. Katie Bell. Daphne Greengrass. Oliver Wood. Percy, oh Percy. The horror Ron felt when he saw the mark on his brother's arm filled him again, competing with nausea and anger. He felt so sick of it all. The fighting and the death. So sick of everything. Now he just felt sick. He was going to throw up. _

"Ron! Ron, wake up!"

Ron's eyes flew open and it took him a moment to where he was. He didn't have time to stumble to the toilet before he threw up what little hehad in his stomach. He wiped his mouth of his sleeve when he'd done, beyond caring about manners, and sat back on his knees. He could feel Luna's soft hand rubbing his back soothingly.

"Sorry." He croaked.

"Don't be, it's not your fault." Luna said. "Come over here, the smell with make you feel even worse." Ron let her pull him up, lead him across the room and help him sit down against the wall.

"How long have I been asleep?" Ron asked.

"I'm not sure; I've been drifting in and out as well. I think about three days though, because Mr Nott has filled up the bowls three times." They fell into pensive silence. Ron didn't know what Luna was thinking. Probably something about Narglies or Lumpips or something equally absurd. His own head was filled with screams of rage and pain. Draco yelling profanities and the tinkle of shattered china as is collided with the wall when he found out his father had been killed. Hermione's soft sobs when he told her he just wanted to be friends.

"What are you thinking about?" Luna asked suddenly.

"Hermione." Ron answered without thinking.

"Oh, yes, I heard about you two. I'm very sorry you were both so upset about breaking up." Luna said.

"Yeah," Ron gave a nod-shrug. "It was the right thing to do though."

"Do you mind me asking why? As far as I could tell it just made you both miserable."

Ron thought for a moment, then decided it didn't matter if Luna knew or not since they were probably going to die soon.

"When we first started dating it was great." He said. "I mean, I'd had a crush on her since forth year. But the war changed her, and me, and it didn't seem to work anymore. After the first few battles, we kind of stopped being about to talk about things. I think that's when we realised the war was our life, but it was too painful to talk about, so what was left?

"We didn't argue anymore, but it was always so awkward. It was like we were so scared of upsetting each other; we couldn't say what we were thinking. I was sick of sitting in silence whilst she read. She was tired of me trying to make pointless conversation. So I ended it. I didn't expect her to be so upset. I thought she would be relieved."

"I think she was, in a way. I think she was more scared that she might lose your friendship than anything else." Luna said thoughtfully.

"Why would she think that? I told her I wanted to be friends."

"I know you did, but after that, did you make any effort to repair your relationship to what it was before you started dating her? As far as I know, you avoided her like everyone avoids Tattlelumps."

"I wanted to give her some space, whenever I tried to talk to her she seemed sad." Ron said, deciding not to ask about _Tattlelumps_. "I thought that was what she wanted."

"Is it what you wanted?"

"No." He said truthfully. "I wanted things to be back the way they were before we were dating."

"Maybe she did too." Luna said. "Maybe she felt the same way as you did, but didn't want to tell you in case you needed space. You avoiding her encouraged this idea, so she thought you didn't want to be her friend. I think that's why she was so upset."

To Ron's surprise, he understood. It sounded like something Hermione would have said; except Ron understood it the way Luna said it. It was all he'd ever wanted Hermione and Harry to do really, explain things clearly to him, without using long words he didn't understand and without speaking to him like he was five.

"If we get back home, I'll talk to her." Ron wasn't sure if he was promising Luna or himself.

"_When _we get back home." Luna said softly. "We're going to be OK, Ron. Harry was when he was taken."

"Yeah, because of Draco. We don't have a Draco to help us escape."

"We will be OK, Ron. I promise." She covered Ron's hand with her own and gave it a soft squeeze. Ron's heart sped up and he felt his face flushing.

Which was ridiculous, of course, because he didn't like Luna. Well, he did like her, but he didn't _like_-like her. Sure, on occasion, he'd noticed how pretty she was. But what hormonal, teenage boy wouldn't? Her figure was full, she had an inarguably nice bottom, her hair was silky and soft and her eyes were always full of wonder and fascination with the world around her. But just because he found her attractive, it didn't mean he had a crush on her. Yes, she made him laugh and he could be completely honest with her, but it was the same with Harry, and Ron certainly didn't _like_-like _him_.

He shrugged off the confusing thoughts, deciding to deal with them later. He was in a sticky enough situation already without contemplating what Luna's lips would taste like when she was sitting right next to him. Holding his hand. So close he could feel each breath she took as her shoulders rose and fell.

"Would you mind telling me another story, Luna?" He asked to stop himself wondering about this.

"Not at all. Doctor Seuss has written a lot of good stories. I'll tell you _Mr Grinch_, it's one of my favourites.

"_You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch  
You really are a heel,  
You're as cuddly as a cactus, you're as charming as an eel, Mr. Grinch,  
You're a bad banana with a greasy black peel!_

You're a monster, Mr. Grinch,  
Your heart's an empty hole,  
Your brain is full of spiders, you have garlic in your soul, Mr. Grinch,  
I wouldn't touch you with a thirty-nine-and-a-half foot pole!

You're a foul one, Mr. Grinch,  
You have termites in your smile,  
You have all the tender sweetness of a seasick crocodile, Mr. Grinch,  
Given a choice between the two of you I'd take the seasick crocodile!

You're a rotter, Mr. Grinch,  
You're the king of sinful sots,  
You're a heart of dead tomato washed with moldy purple spots, Mr. Grinch,  
You're a three decker sauerkrauten toadstool sandwich with arsenic sauce!

You nauseate me, Mr. Grinch,  
With a nauseous (super not?),  
You're a crooked dirty jockey and you drive a crooked horse, Mr. Grinch,  
Your soul is an appalling dump heap overflowing with the most disgraceful  
assortment of rubbish imaginable mangled up in tangled up knots!

You're a foul one, Mr. Grinch,  
You're a nasty wasty skunk,  
Your heart is full of unwashed socks, your soul is full of gunk, Mr. Grinch,  
The three words that best describe you are, and I quote,  
'Stink, stank, stunk,"

Ron was laughing so hard by the end of the poem his sides were aching. The poem wasn't _that _funny, but Ron thought he probably would have laughed if she'd told him the tale of The Three Brothers. If his father had taught him anything, it was that people needed to laugh quite often to stay in good spirits. He'd grown up with laughter all around him (Ginny's soft giggles, his brothers' boisterous guffaws, Percy and Mum's reluctant half-laughs and Dad's deep chuckles), and then there was always somebody laughing at school. Being so down he couldn't even laugh was something that made him extremely uncomfortable. Hermione had never understood. He thought, perhaps, Luna might.

Eventually though, his laughter faded, and reality invaded again. Ron immediately searched for something to distract himself again.

"How did you get captured, Luna? You didn't say before."

To his surprise, Luna blushed.

"I suppose it's only fair I tell you, you told me about your break-up." She said, dropping his hand. He felt a pang of loss and, in a flash of unusual intuition, he picked hers up again and entwined their fingers. She gave him a small smile and continued, "I got caught on purpose-"

"What? Why-?"

"I thought I could help you."

"Oh. That was really stupid,"

"I know, but I couldn't stand thinking about you all alone, being tortured. I thought if anything I might be some comfort,"

Ron was sure he should feel angry or guilty or something other than the warm fuzzy feeling in his chest.

He looked over at Luna. She looked back. He felt his heart stutter, and vaguely thought that wasn't a good thing.

"Thank you. I wish you hadn't done it, but thank you anyway," He said softly.

Luna smiled at him. He smiled back.

"If you two are finished?" A low voice said.

Ron couldn't help the groan that left him lips. Snape was the last person he wanted to see right now.

"Come on, The Dark Lord wants to see you,"

He waved his wand and the barrier fell.

"Don't try to run," He said, stopping Ron in his tracks, "You wouldn't get five steps in your condition and there are three death eaters at the top of the stairs just waiting for an excuse to hurt you,"

"We won't run," Luna said, pulling Ron's arm over her shoulders and wrapping hers around his waist in an attempt to help him stay upright.

They stumbled after Snape in this way, struggling with the stairs and long corridors but eventually managing to find a fairly comfortable way of walking. Ron could feel his head bleeding again, but decided there were more important things to worry about right now.

"Ah, Severus, thank you for bring the… prisoners," A high, reedy voice. A voice that sent shivers down Ron's back and made Luna's breath hitch.

They rounded a corner and, sitting on a dark twisted throne, was Voldemort.

His red eyes glinted when he saw Ron and Luna and he leant forward excitedly.

"Oh, Greg,"

Ron followed Luna's line of sight and saw Goyle slumped on the floor. Dead.

Ron felt a pang of sadness he hadn't expected. He hadn't realised he'd actually grown fond of Goyle.

"Oh yes, Goyle was your _friend_. The filthy, sick-" Voldemort shuddered with spasms, his head and arm twitching his voice gurgling.

Ron stared in horror at the grotesque sight.

Then he was normal again, although much angrier than before. Bellatrix ran forward, trying in vain to help her master.

"Get off me!" Voldemort managed to say, "Get them away!"

Snape grabbed Ron and Luna, dragging them out of the hall and into the corridor.

Ron's head was throbbing even more than before and he almost fell to the ground when Snape released him.

"Don't black out on me Weasley," Snape said, grabbing Ron's chin and forcing him to look up, "As you saw in there, Wormtail messed up The Dark Lord's potion. His physical form in failing, he needs to consume souls in order to stay alive. That's what he did to Goyle. But it wasn't enough, the more he takes, the more he needs for them to have the same effect. That's why he needs you,"

"What do we do?" Luna said.

"We have to act _now_, this might be our only chance. Goyle managed to send a message to the order, telling them as much as he knew about our whereabouts, but we can't rely on them. Here, Weasley, drink this,"

Ron was too weak to protest as Snape poured liquid down his throat. The pain in his head increased until he was sure he was going to die, then it went away. He opened his eyes, only just realising they were closed, and his vision was clear again.

"Do you hurt at all?" Snape said, "Tell me even if it's only a tiny bit, I need you at full strength,"

"I'm fine, it doesn't hurt anymore," Ron said, getting up. He was very aware that he didn't feel in the least dizzy or lightheaded.

"Here," Snape handed Ron and Luna their wands, and from there it was just another fight.

They were outnumbered, even with Narcissa and Snape finally showing where their true loyalties lay, but that didn't matter. It was just another fight.

Ron dodged Bellatrix's curse and shot one of his own. His aim was way off though, and he almost hit Narcissa, who shot him a death glare. Bellatrix hooted and shot three spells in a row. Another from behind narrowly missed his head. A spell from his left hit is ankle, and he stumbled and gasped. He couldn't keep this up. They were going to lose.

Then the whole room was full of cracks and everyone was confused. Ron felt an arm around his shoulders and heard Harry's voice in his ear, "Hold on, mate. I'm going to apparated us out of here,"

"No, wait," Ron cried, twisting away, "Where's Luna?"

"I'm right here, Ron," Luna said, appearing beside him.

"Come on," Harry said, grabbing Ron again. Ron held onto Luna and then it was hard to breath. As their feet hit the ground outside Grimald Place the pain from Ron's injuries came back with a vengeance. He cried out, heard Luna's worried voice, then everything was black.

When Ron opened his eyes he was in the makeshift hospital at Grimald Place. Two other beds were occupied by Tonks and Harry. Tonks was asleep, but Harry was reading a Quidditch magazine, his leg wrapped up again.

"Harry,"

Harry looked up and grinned at Ron, getting out of bed and hobbling over to him.

"Are you really awake this time?" He said.

"Have there been a lot of false alarms?"

Harry nodded, and for some reason his smile got even bigger.

"Yep, you've been waking up a couple of times a day since Madame Pomfrey healed you, about three weeks ago. There's been a lot of, _Where's Luna? Her hair's so silky. Her eyes are so big. Her legs are so nice. Her bottom is so_-"

"Okay, I get it," Ron said blushing red.

There was a quiet knock at the door and they both looked up to see Luna and Draco watching them. Her face was serene, but the blush on her cheeks told Ron she'd overheard them.

"Come on Harry," Draco said, "Let's leave these two alone."

Harry laughed and shuffled out of the room, closing the door deliberately behind them.

Luna sat on the chair next to Ron's bed and watched him. Ron shifted uncomfortably, then said, "So, what have I missed?"

"I asked Hermione if she minded me asking you out," Luna said.

Ron stared at her. "Did- Did she?"

"No, she's just so happy you're okay,"

"Are you asking me out them?"

Luna nodded.

"Why?"

Luna looked at him for a moment, then laughed. Soon Ron joined in. Then he sobered again and said, "Really Luna, why?"

"Does it matter?"

"Yes,"

"I'm not very good at putting my feelings into words," Luna warned.

"Neither am I," Ron said.

Luna looked away, then looked back. She took a deep breath. "I guess… I guess I like you. And I think and I'm worried that you're just a lonely as me. I'm worried you'll carry on playing lonely games and you really will be driven mad,"

"I'm afraid as well," Ron said quietly, "I'm afraid that sometimes you'll play lonely games too. Games you can't win 'cause you'll play against you."

Luna kissed him. Ron kissed her back.

"This might not work," He murmured against her lips.

"I think it will."

_So I started writing this for a challenge _ages _ago, but like an idiot forgot all about it. I'm pretty sure the challenge is over now, and I can't find it, but I finished it off and now I'm posting it. Please review :)_


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